Bosnian gas monopoly BH Gas has confirmed that Russia's Gazprom is requesting Bosnia and Herzegovina to repay outstanding debt incurred during the war in the country in the 1990s, Balkan Seenews reported on May 18, 2017.
In a statement issued earlier this week, BH Gas said that Bosnia should have negotiated to repay debt owed for Russian gas deliveries when settling the debt owed by the former USSR to the former Yugoslavia earlier this year.
In March, Bosnia and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement to settle $125.2 million (112.7 million euro) of debt owed by the former USSR to the former Yugoslavia, of which Bosnia was part.
According to BH Gas, Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only country of the former Yugoslavia which has requested that this debt be paid off in cash.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only country of the former Yugoslavia to collect the clearing debt in cash but it is also the only country of the former Yugoslavia which has not regulated its debt for natural gas supplied during the war, BH Gas said.
Bosnian media reported that Russia is seeking some $98 million (88.7 million euro) from Bosnia in outstanding debt for gas deliveries made by Gazprom to Bosnia from 1991 to 1995.
The gas debt initially totalled $104.8 million but since 2009 the Federation, one of Bosnia's 2 entities, has paid back $5.9 million.
Local media reported earlier this week that gas company Gas-Res, based in Bosnia's other entity, the Serb Republic, had recently signed a deal under which it has no obligation to repay Bosnia's wartime gas debt.
This means the repayment of the remaining $98 million falls on the Federation.
BH Gas has confirmed this information and said that events to come will be detrimental to natural gas consumers in the Federation.
All these years the Serb Republic has insisted it will not participate in resolving the wartime gas debt issue but it wants its share of the debt USSR owed to Yugoslavia, the company said.
From the Russian payment of debt of the former USSR to Bosnia, the Federation is set to receive 58%, or $72.6 million, the Serb Republic will get $36.3 million or 29%, Bosnia's state institutions are entitled to $12.5 million or 10%, while the Brcko District - a neutral, self-governing administrative unit - will receive 3% or $3.8 million.
