An extraordinary session of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was convened for Wednesday, April 8, at 12 noon in Sarajevo.
The only announced item on the agenda is the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on the Gas Pipeline “Southern Gas Interconnection Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia”.
Federal Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry Vedran Lakić stated on April 2 at a press conference that sessions of both houses of the Federal Parliament could soon be held regarding the proposed changes to the current legislation on the southern interconnection.
“In the coming days, sessions of both houses of the FBiH Parliament will be held, where the said law will be discussed, and the most important stage is the conclusion of the contract between the Federation of BiH and the American investor. Surely this will be a turning point for the energy sector in BiH”, said Lakić then, among other things.
The law, in the form of amendments to the current legislation in the aforementioned area, was proposed by the Federal Government, initiating the FBiH Parliament’s urgent consideration of it.
On January 14, the government adopted information from the line ministry specifying the investor and the need to start the project, while the text of the act, whose full official title is the Proposal for the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Gas Pipeline “Southern Interconnection of BiH and the Republic of Croatia”, was adopted at the session of the FBiH Government on March 25.
Minister Lakić stated that in addition to the main route of the gas pipeline, the newly proposed changes also provide for branches to the cities of Grude, Gornji Vakuf-Uskoplje, Donji Vakuf and Čapljina, as well as a new direction from Kladnje to Tuzla.
“Thus, we will start gasification in the industrial part of Bosnia and Herzegovina and get closer to the Tuzla Thermal Power Plant,” said the Minister of Energy, Mining and Industry at the time.
The amendments to the law also introduce an American investor, the company AAFS Infrastructure and Energy doo, registered in Sarajevo and fully owned by the American company AAFS Infrastructure and Energy LLC, the Government announced on March 25.
This company sent a letter of intent and an offer for the implementation of the gas pipeline construction project “Southern Interconnection Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia”. The letter of intent and the offer from AAFS confirm a serious interest in investing in this strategic project, the goal of which is to further improve the energy security of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and enable the attraction of foreign investments while diversifying sources of gas supply, the Government also stated.
Not even this federal law can enter into force until it is approved by both chambers of the Federal Parliament in an identical text, it says Radio Sarajevo.
