ZAGREB, February 19, 2020 - Representatives of the BH-gas company, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on Wednesday signed a grant agreement in Sarajevo for a project to connect Bosnia and Herzegovina's and Croatia's gas networks.
BH-gas, which is the largest gas provider and distributor in Bosnia and Herzegovina, said in a press release that the agreement would activate funds earmarked for environmental impact and feasibility studies for the South Gas Interconnection project.
The project involved building a gas pipeline from Zagvozd in southern Croatia toward Posušje and on to Travnik in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a special pipeline branching off to Mostar.
The project would secure an additional gas supply route for Bosnia and Herzegovina which has been entirely dependent on Russian gas for decades via a trunk pipeline through Serbia.
The project was launched because the Republika Srpska entity authorities refuse to agree to connecting the two countries' gas networks along the shortest and cheapest route, running from Slavonski Brod to Bosanski Brod.
Northern areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina located in the Serb entity still do not have access to gas as an energy product and the authorities in Banja Luka want to build a new pipeline that would pass exclusively across the entity's territory and be connected to Serbia's gas network.
USAID is providing $500,000 for the South Gas Interconnection project while the remaining costs will be covered by the EU.
BH-gas expects the project documentation to be completed by the end of the year.
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