”Every day we witness the mass purchase of basic foodstuffs to the extent that we cause artificial shortages, however, there is no room for panic, but there is a concern, ” said the President of the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FTC BiH),Ahmet Egrlic.
”Supply chains have broken down due to excessive consumption. Supply has its own dynamics and resources, and that was disrupted by too many purchases,” Egrlic explained.
Egrlic cited the example of wheat, which only a few days ago cost 250 euros per ton, and is now 340 euros and price is still growing.
When it comes to gas supply, where we are completely dependent on Russia, he points out that the supply of this energy, which goes through the Turkish Stream, is not endangered and that we get the requested quantities.
The President of the FTC BiH believes that it is still not too late for BiH to replenish its reserves, as the countries of the region are currently doing the same.
”BiH does not have adequate commodity reserves and is not able to respond to such major crises and challenges. In the Republika Srpska (RS), commodity reserves are bankrupt, in the Federation of BiH (FBiH) the situation varies from canton to canton. The FBiH also has certain quantities of goods in commodity reserves. We do not have information on how many of these goods are, but we should not forget that there are not enough petroleum products in our terminals, that the daily consumption in the FBiH alone is 2.2 million liters, and that these commodity reserves are out of capacity. Our distributors are making efforts to provide sufficient quantities as the consumption of oil and petroleum products has increased enormously. I am sure that there will be no interruption of supply in the next month, but prices will probably rise,” Egrlic emphasized.
As for the export sectors in BiH, which will feel the biggest consequences of sanctions against Russia, Egrlic states that these are primarily sectors in the automotive industry, then the production of white goods and furniture.
”We already have some furniture manufacturers whose delivery has been postponed until the end of May. The citizens of Europe have also turned to essential foods, primarily food and pharmaceutical products,” Egrlic concluded.
