May 12 (SeeNews) - Bosnia and Herzegovina's state-level government said it has approved proposals for agreements with Croatia and Serbia for projects for the construction of gas pipelines which will enable the country to diversify its supply sources and routes.
The agreements regard the projects for the development of a gas pipeline to Croatia, commonly referred to as the Southern Interconnection, and a new gas pipeline to Serbia, known as the New Eastern Interconnection, the Council of Ministers said in a statement on Thursday.
The Southern Interconnection will run from Zagvozd in southern Croatia to Posusje and Travnik in Bosnia, with a branch to Mostar. The New Eastern Interconnection will start at the border with Serbia and pass through Bijeljina, Banja Luka, Prijedor and Novi Grad.
Currently, Bosnia depends solely on Russian gas deliveries which it receives at a single entry point via Serbia and Hungary.
The Council of Ministers also called on the government of the Federation to urgently propose to the entity's parliament a legal solution for the implementation of the project for the Southern Interconnection.
According to local media reports, members of the HDZ BiH party have been blocking the adoption of legislation for the construction of the Southern Interconnection in the Federation's parliament for over a year, demanding that state-owned BH Gas be removed from the draft law as the company appointed to oversee the project.
The Federation is one of two autonomous entities that form Bosnia and Herzegovina. The other one is the Serb Republic.