Southern gas link breaks Bosnia's reliance on Russian supply
The law adopted by the upper house of the parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina provides for the construction of the "southern connection," a gas pipeline that will deliver gas to this country from Croatia.
A statement from the House of Peoples of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (an administrative part of BiH) said that on Thursday, it passed a law enabling the construction of the gas pipeline. This will solve the country's complete dependence on Russian gas.
Currently, Bosnia and Herzegovina is supplied exclusively with Russian gas, reaching the country through the eastern border near Zvornik. The city is located within the Republika Srpska, a predominantly Serb autonomous region of the country.
The planned southern connection aims to link BiH with the LNG terminal on the Croatian island of Krk and, thus, with European gas pipelines. The value of the pipeline construction is estimated at £89 million, and its length will be about 180 kilometres.
With the support of the USA
The Croatian Democratic Union in BiH (HDZ BiH), the most significant political group of Bosnian Croats, has opposed the construction for years. Its leaders do not want the project managed by the BH Gas company, which the government of the Federation of BiH owns.
Amendments to the company's statute, adopted in January of this year, allowed subsidiary companies to have their headquarters outside of Sarajevo, achieving a compromise.
The USA strongly supported the southern pipeline project and repeatedly called on HDZ BiH to stop obstructing its implementation.
