Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has about twenty days left to sign a new gas supply contract with the Russian company “Gazprom”. This company operates with two entity companies in charge of delivering gas through the Turkish Stream.
At the beginning of 2023, i.e. on January 1st, contracts for the purchase of gas expire, and companies in the entities of Republika Srpska (RS) and the Federation of BiH (FBiH) for the import of natural gas from Russia still do not know whether they will buy it at the old or new price.
“Gazprom” raised prices for the last time in early October. The price for “Energoinvest”, a company that procures gas for the FBiH, increased by 9.7%, and for “Gas-res”, a company in the RS, by 5.04%.
BiH is completely dependent on the import of gas from Russia, which arrives in the country via the Turkish Stream gas pipeline.
What are the expectations in entity companies?
Companies importing natural gas to BiH expect similar or slightly lower prices for end users from the beginning of next year.
Energoinvest claims that the quantities contracted for this year are “absolutely sufficient for the needs of all consumers in the FBiH who are connected to the gas system”. ”Gas-res” explained that it is possible for gas to become cheaper for users in RS, but they will know more when they sign a contract with Gazprom.
New gas connections “on hold”
The “New Eastern Interconnection” is a planned gas pipeline that would connect to the gas network of Serbia, and would go from Bijeljina in the northeast to Banja Luka and Novi Grad in the northwest of BiH. It would open another way for Russian gas to enter BiH via “Turkish Stream”.
“Gas-res” told that they expect “no obstacles to the realization” of this project to be made at the BiH level and that the Council of Ministers will support it.
The construction of the “Southern Interconnection” would connect BiH to Croatia, and thus to the European gas network. That gas pipeline would go from Croatia, through western Herzegovina to Novi Travnik in central BiH.
The United States (U.S.) and the European Union (EU)financially supported this project, as “the best chance for diversification, strengthening the energy sector and ensuring the energy security of BiH”, Radio Slobodna Evropa reports.
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