A Bosnian technician employed by the state-owned gas company, Sarajevo Gas, walks through a gas … [+] distribution chamber. (Photo by ELVIS BARUKCIC/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
Bosnia and Herzegovina has taken a step closer to building the Southern Interconnection natural gas pipeline, a project aimed at ensuring energy security and reducing the country’s reliance on Russian supplies.
The initiative’s primary goal is to diversify gas routes and sources by importing American liquefied natural gas (LNG) from a terminal on the Croatian island of Krk and gaining access to sources in the Caspian region. If completed, it would establish the first gas pipeline interconnector between Bosnia and Croatia, with a capacity of 1.5 billion cubic meters.
On January 16, the Bosnian House of Peoples adopted a law that clears the way for the project, removing a significant legislative hurdle after more than 15 years of political gridlock.
Political stalemates and energy security
The 217-mile pipeline would pass through Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Albania, with the Bosnian branch running from Posušje through Mostar to Novi Travnik. The project is expected to take about a decade to complete.
Initial estimates put the cost at around $108 million, to be covered by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. However, more recent projections suggest the price tag may exceed $216 million.
The Southern Interconnection is included in the European Union’s strategic priorities, such as the Economic and Investment Plan for the Western Balkans, as a temporary step in moving from coal to clean energy. There are also plans to future-proof the pipeline by designing it to accommodate hydrogen once fossil fuels are phased out.
Although natural gas accounts for less than 3% of Bosnia’s overall energy mix, it plays a significant role in the country’s economic performance as it powers factories and heating plants around the capital, Sarajevo.
Bosnia has been entirely dependent on Russian supplies, delivered through TurkStream, which enters the country from Serbia and passes through the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska—a region that has repeatedly threatened to secede from Bosnia.
Unlike many other European countries, Sarajevo has not diversified its energy supplies since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, despite imposing sanctions on Moscow.
The idea for the pipeline dates back to 2009, when a Russian gas supply cutoff left about 100,000 Bosnian households without heat for two weeks in subzero temperatures and forced businesses to reduce operations or shut down.
Despite its importance, the project faced significant political stalemates. A critical hurdle was resistance from Bosnian Croat parties, which repeatedly blocked its adoption in parliament. They demanded that a new company, managed by ethnic Croats and headquartered in the Croat-populated city of Mostar, oversee the project instead of the state-owned BH-Gas, based in Sarajevo.
This obstruction, repeatedly criticized by the U.S. Embassy and European Union officials, has undermined Bosnia’s energy security and allowed Russia to maintain its monopoly on the country’s natural gas supply.
In January 2024, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent a letter to the foreign ministers of Bosnia and Croatia, calling the delays detrimental to Bosnia’s national interests. He accused Bosnian Croat politicians of prioritizing political gains over the country’s energy independence.
Weakening the Russian influence
The obstruction has not only prevented Bosnia from securing more reliable energy sources but has also slowed efforts to reduce Russian influence in the Balkans.
The Russian Embassy in Sarajevo accused the United States of “planting a bomb under the integrity of Bosnia” by promoting the pipeline. It compared a recent meeting between U.S. Ambassador to Bosnia Michael Murphy and Bosnian policymakers to former President Joe Biden’s visit to Kyiv, adding, “we can see where that led Ukraine.”
Russia has long sought to destabilize Bosnia and slow its efforts to join the EU and NATO through the Moscow-aligned government of Milorad Dodik, who controls Republika Srpska. Dodik and his patronage network have been sanctioned by the U.S. for “enriching themselves at the public’s expense” and for drafting plans for the region to secede from the country.
Serb Bosnian politicians have also threatened to derail the Southern Interconnection, conditioning their support on the construction of another natural gas pipeline financed and built by Russia.
Environmental concerns
The pipeline has also come under fire from environmental groups, which argue that although the project aims to reduce dependence on Russian gas, it would lock Bosnia into continued use of fossil fuels rather than accelerating a shift to clean energy.
They say the project contradicts climate goals and delays the country’s transition to renewable sources by expanding gas infrastructure and promoting further gasification.
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Publish date : 2025-01-26 09:51:00
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