BANJA LUKA (Bosnia and Herzegovina), November 8 (SeeNews) – Bosnia and Herzegovina is a victim of its own constitutional framework, as reform of the country's energy sector remains deadlocked despite sanctions adopted earlier, the Energy Community has said.
In 2015, the ministerial council of the organisation imposed sanctions on Bosnia, but to no avail, as political will is preventing progress in the country from taking off the ground, the secretariat of the Energy Community said in its 2016/2017 annual implementation report published earlier this week.
Bosnia lags behind all EU norms in the energy sector, because its organisation suffers from the complexity of the country’s constitutional structure and general political impasse, according to the implementation report.
Although a state law aiming to transpose the EU's Third Energy Package was drafted in Bosnia, it still has not been adopted, while a new law on the establishment of the transmission system operator is yet to be drafted.
The Energy Community warned that these goals must be prioritised.
With regard to Bosnia's gas sector, the Energy Community explained that commitments and assurances given by the country’s representatives to resolve the deadlock in bringing the gas sector into compliance were once again not kept.
Hence, Bosnia's priorities remain the same: to reach a unanimous agreement on implementing the Third Energy Package provisions.
The Energy Community also warned that customers in Bosnia are held hostage by the deadlock in the country's gas sector, which endangers infrastructure development and security of gas supplies.
In the oil sector, Bosnia has made no progress for the second year in a row with regard to priorities identified in the implementation report and none of the suggested actions have been taken up, the organisation said.
It added that since Bosnia does not produce crude oil, it must draft an action plan for building up emergency oil stocks, and establish a monthly oil data reporting system.
Bosnia mostly imports crude oil from Russia. Imports in 2016 were estimated at around 911 kt, the same as in 2015.
When it comes to renewable energy, Bosnia and Herzegovina may risk not reaching the 40% renewable energy target in 2020 if the policy measures are not reviewed, according to the implementation report.
Overall, when compared to the other countries in Southeast Europe, Bosnia has performed worst in implementing responsibilities.
The Energy Community was established in October 2005 with the key aim of extending the EU internal energy market to Southeast Europe and beyond on the basis of a legally binding framework. The international organisation consists of the EU, represented by the European Commission, and Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine.