Dodik seeks renewed talks on gas pipeline from Serbia

SNSD leader Milorad Dodik said Republika Srpska would again raise a proposed pipeline for Russian gas supplies through Serbia at Bosnia and Herzegovina's state level following the country's elections.

Speaking to RIA Novosti, Dodik linked renewed talks to unlocking investment projects and preserving the 1995 Dayton Agreement. He accused the Bosniak side of blocking the pipeline for 12 years, against a backdrop of longstanding political disagreements between Sarajevo and Banja Luka.

He said Republika Srpska was prepared to work on the project if its Bosniak partners showed goodwill. His comments describe an intention to reopen the issue rather than an agreed construction start.

Preliminary electoral commission figures after the general election showed Savo Minic leading the race for president of Republika Srpska and Zeljka Cvijanovic ahead for the Serb seat on Bosnia and Herzegovina's presidency. Dodik separately said his party would secure two-thirds of seats in Republika Srpska's parliament.

Bosnia and Herzegovina already receives Russian gas through a connection at Zvornik on the Serbian border. RIA Novosti put annual national consumption at up to 250 million cubic metres, including about 50 million cubic metres in Republika Srpska.

In 2022, Bosnia and Herzegovina's Council of Ministers discussed two interconnection projects. The eastern connection to Serbia's gas transmission system was planned near Bijeljina at an estimated cost of 250 million euros. The agency reported that the project was not advancing.