New Energy Community sanctions for Bosnia and Herzegovina?

The Ministerial Conference of the Energy Community will discuss in December a possibility of introducing additional sanctions against Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) because the country keeps failing to meet obligations under the terms of the Treaty of the Energy Community, in the gas sector at the state level in particular.

Mirko Šarović, BiH Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations, said last week that Prime ministers of Republika Srpska (RS) and Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and himself received a sharp warning letter from the Director of the Secretariat of the Energy Community Janez Kopač. He added, as Nezavisne novine portal report, that news sanctions against BiH are possible.

“The three of us received a letter in which we are informed, especially the RS Government and the Federation, that due to non-fulfillment of the obligations from the Third Energy Package, that is, the non-implementation of the already agreed law on electricity, gas, transmission and electricity market regulators, Bosnia and Herzegovina is under a threat of new sanctions at the ministerial conference that should take place in Priština in December,” Šarovic emphasized.

The conference is scheduled for December 14th.

He added that there is very little time left and that the proposal for new sanctions has already been included in the agenda of the Ministerial Conference. As Šarović said, it is a kind of warning to the key actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina to get serious and fulfill the international obligations that Bosnia and Herzegovina has undertaken.

The Energy Community, for the first time, adopted sanctions against Bosnia and Herzegovina over its failure to adopt the EU’s Second Energy Package in the gas sector. The sanctions were imposed for a period of one year for not fulfilling its energy obligations. The sanctions were temporarily halted last October due to successful negotiations within the BiH government bodies on implementation of Action plan for the Transfer of Legal Property in Energy Sector.

The Energy Community reintroduced its set of punitive measures for Bosnia and Herzegovina, starting April 1 this year, due to the Balkan country’s insufficient efforts to meet obligations under the terms of the Treaty of the Energy Community.