A 1.6 percent lower gas price for tariff customers is a request from Energoinvest to the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will respond to it in the next two days. If it approves it, gas will be charged at a lower price starting from October 1. The reduction in gas and oil prices on the world market means more favorable prices for the purchase of this energy source, and ultimately lower monthly bills for citizens.
The heating season has started, and Bosnia and Herzegovina is still relying on one source of supply – Turkish Stream, or Russian gas. However, there will be no turning of the valve and no increase in the price of gas – claim Energoinvest and announce:
“We will lower the price and it would be applied from 1 October this year. It would be lower by 1.63 percent. As the management of Energoinvest, we made a very good decision earlier that the calculation of the price of gas is based on the so-called gas formula, which is one of the rare cases in Europe, because the price of gas is usually determined according to stock exchange prices”, emphasized Mirza Ustamujić, director of Energoinvest d. d. Sarajevo.
And whether and how much less citizens will pay for gas heating – the decision is up to the Federal Government, and the calculation is precise.
“We have processed the request, given a positive opinion and forwarded it to the Federal Ministry of Trade, which has also prepared a positive opinion and I believe that tomorrow or the day after tomorrow we will give final approval for the reduction of the price of gas at an emergency session”, says Vedran Lakić, Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry of the FBiH.
“If we say that for a 100 BAM monthly cost of 100 marks and 63 pfennigs, if we know that during the winter a household spends between 400-500 BAM on gas, then in practice this price reduction would mean 7-8 BAM less cost per month,” says energy expert Amer Jerlagić.
But for now, we can’t do less, because we are dependent on one source of supply, and we don’t have gas reserves or deposits of this energy source, and an alternative to Russian gas is still a project on paper.
“In order to maintain this continuity, we must invite other representatives to start dealing with the processes related to the Southern Interconnection as intensively as possible,” says Ustamujić.
“With each of these alternatives, we would have the opportunity to have better conditions and more secure supply and a cheaper price through it, too,” concludes Jerlagić.
The question is whether cheaper gas will also mean a relief for the economy, and thus a chain reduction in prices that are constantly rising, given that all previous gas price reductions have not led to that.
