It is realistic to expect that the price of gas in the Republika Srpska will increase by 10% from July, confirmed the company “Gas-Res”.
“According to my modest estimate, gas prices will increase in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, but that should be a maximum of 10 percent,” said Ljubo Glamocic, director of Gas-Res.
He adds that the amount of the increase will depend on the price of oil on the world stock market. He also said that the new contract for the supply of natural gas, which the company signed with Russia’s Gazprom Export, and which is valid until the end of the year, did not change the conditions under which the price of this energy source will be determined.
According to Glamocic, the price of gas in Serbia was determined according to the same principle, but he admits that the announced increase in the price of this energy source in RS will be higher than in Serbia, which agreed that the price in the next three years will be 340-350 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters.
“The same principle is for determining gas prices for both Serbia and Republika Srpska, but we must keep in mind the difference, that we have an additional cost of transport through the transport gas system of Serbia. And that price, depending on the leased capacity and costs, is around 25 euros at 1,000 cubic meters, so our price in relation to the one in Serbia is somewhat higher precisely for these reasons, “said Glamocic.
Almir Becarevic, an energy expert, agrees that the increase in gas prices from July is inevitable.
“It will be increased by somewhere between 10 and 15 percent. There is no dilemma here,” Becarevic points out.
He explains that there is a significant difference in the contracts, which refers to the quantities, which were signed with “Gazprom Export” by “Gas-Res” and “Energoinvest”, which supplies gas to the Federation of BiH.
While the RS says that sufficient quantities of gas have been provided by the end of this year, Becarevic says that the daily quantities ordered by the Federation of BiH will not be enough.
“Thus, the question now is how additional needs will be addressed, ie what gas prices will be if the supplier decides to buy additional quantities, because the leased capacity of about 840,000 cubic meters is not absolutely sufficient for the Federation of BiH, especially for the city of Sarajevo,” Becarevic said in a statement to “Nezavisne novine”.
Asked what the forecast is for the last quarter of 2022 in terms of gas prices, our interlocutors said that it was too early to talk about it, but that the continuation of the conflict in Ukraine and disturbances on the world stock market will bring new price increases without any doubt.
The Federal Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry, Nermin Djindic, said that the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina at its session today adopted the Information on the increase in gas prices for the third quarter of 2022, which was submitted by Energoinvest d.d. Sarajevo.
“A decision was adopted to increase the price of gas by 23.3 percent. It is a direct request, that is, a price increase from Gazprom to Energoinvest. Energoinvest urgently demanded a correction from the Federal Ministry of Trade and the Federal Ministry of Energy, Mining and Industry,” said Dzindic after the Government session.
The Federal Ministry of Trade proposed this correction at the session today, as he stated, and the FBiH Government adopted it and sent it to further procedure.
Director of Energoinvest Bisera Hadzaljevic emphasized that Bosnia and Herzegovina currently has only one supply route, ie that all gas comes from Russia.
“The existing contracts are stable, there are no problems with supply, and new arrangements have yet to be agreed. As a supplier, we can get all the quantities that the Federation of BiH needs, however, it is a question of price,” she said.
“We are easily discussing the LNG terminals that are being built, the terminal in Greece is under construction, it will certainly last for the next two years, the terminal on Krk exists, for now there is not enough LNG required. I don’t think there will be any significant changes in the next two years. I have no dilemmas about supply, but I have about the price, and that is what worries us,” said Hadžialjevic.
The president of the Croatian Professional Gas Association, Dalibor Pudic, said that the LNG terminal, which provided security, had started operating in 2021.
“We have a good infrastructure, our gas production is relatively good compared to EU countries, where most countries import gas almost 100 percent. Compared to the period ten years ago, we produced almost all quantities of Croatian consumption, today we cover only 30 percent of Croatia’s gas needs,” said Pudic.
By the way, Croatia is the country that has the highest degree of independence in the region, because it received liquefied gas from the United States and Qatar through the terminal on Krk. Energoinvest reports that one of the goals in BiH is the construction of a southern interconnection that would enable direct access to gas from Krk.
