A new law on the Southern Gas Interconnection has been adopted in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The full title of the act is the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Gas Pipeline “Southern Interconnection Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia” and it was adopted by a majority vote at today’s extraordinary session of the House of Peoples of the Federal Parliament in the same text in which it was approved by the House of Representatives on 8 April, also at an extraordinary session.
In the form of amendments to and supplements to the current legislation, the Law was proposed to the Parliament by the Federal Government, requesting urgent consideration, which was accepted by both houses.
In the House of Peoples, 61 delegates voted for this act today, three were against and one abstained, while in the more numerous House of Representatives, 79 representatives expressed their support on 8 April, two were against and one also abstained.
In both houses, members of the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (SBiH) did not support the Law, raising the issue, among other things, that the proponents abandoned the concept of the state-owned company BH Gas being the investment carrier, as they said, in order to cede that role to a private company without significant experience.
Federal Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry Vedran Lakić recently stated that the route of the future gas pipeline in the FBiH remained as planned, and that the newly proposed act planned certain gas branches, as well as a new route from Kladanj to Tuzla, which, according to him, will begin gasification in the industrial part of the Federation and bring it closer to the Tuzla Thermal Power Plant.
– The name of the investor, an American company, was also included in the text of the newly proposed act. In the current legislation, the domestic company BH Gas was in the role of investor and gas transporter, however, the Southern Interconnection project has not yet been implemented on the ground, and this is an urgent need – stated Lakić.
On the other hand, he noted, the European Union announced the cessation of Russian gas supplies as of January 1, 2028.
According to Lakić, the proposer of the new law started from the fact that the American partners expressed in the Letter of Intent their financial readiness to build the gas pipeline, which is also in the interest of the Federation of BiH.
The newly proposed act envisages the conclusion of a contract between the Government of the Federation of BiH and the investor, so the Ministry has begun defining the basic postulates of the future contract, taking into account the protection of the interests of the Federation of BiH.
– The investor will implement the gas pipeline construction project by building an interconnection transport gas pipeline in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Tomislavgrad – Šuica – Kupres – Bugojno – Novi Travnik/Travnik route and the Posušje – Grude – Široki Brijeg – Mostar route, by building a branch for Livno, Gornji Vakuf – Uskoplje, Donji Vakuf, Jajce and the Čapljina branch and by building an additional Kladanj – Tuzla route – it is stated, among other things, in the text.
It is previously known that the liquefied gas route from the West will lead to Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is, to the Federation of BiH from the south, via the Republic of Croatia, with which an appropriate agreement must also be reached, as well as a contract between the Government of the Federation of BiH and a defined investor for the project.
On January 14 of this year, the Government adopted the information of the Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry, which specified the investor and the need to initiate the implementation of the project, while the Draft Law was established at the session of the Government of the Federation of BiH on March 25.
The text of the adopted Law also lists the investor of the Southern Interconnection project, the company AAFS Infrastructure and Energy d.o.o., registered in Sarajevo and fully owned by the American company AAFS Infrastructure and Energy LLC.
The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina previously explained that this company had sent a previous Letter of Intent and an offer for the implementation of the gas pipeline construction project “Southern Interconnection Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia”.
The Letter of Intent and offer from AAFS confirm serious interest in investing in this strategic project, the aim of which is to further improve the energy security of the Federation of BiH and enable the attraction of foreign investments while diversifying gas supply sources, the Government of the Federation of BiH also stated.
